30

I am 30. 30 is a big milestone. In contemplating my life and where I am at at 30, I have realized how incredibly blessed and happy I am. At 30 I am married to an AMAZING man who seriously thinks about mine and the girls' needs before his own. I have 2 stunning little ladies that I get to call mine...thank you Jesus. I get to spend everyday raising these beautiful girls. I am so blessed to be there through their tears, diaper changes, laughter, discoveries, and all of their firsts. I am exactly where I have always desired to be in life at this moment. 30 definitely isn't so bad:)

Everly 6 months

Julianna 3 1/2

30th birthday

The happenings

We have been incredibly busy lately. Here are a few pictures of what we have been doing...

Everly and mommy

Off to a BBQ

The kiddos

Jer and Everly on the 4th of July

The girls on the 4th

Ethan's first birthday

Grandma and Julianna baking cookies

...I love my life:)

Father's Day

I have the most amazing dad's in my life anyone could ever ask for. My father in law is one of the kindest, gentlest, most caring men I have ever known. My own dad is one of the funniest, and loving men I have ever known, and Jeremy is the most amazing, loving, funny, perfect-for-me-and-my-girls man I could ever want. We are blessed girls in this household! Happy father's day all you dads! We love you:)

We tried many times to get a family picture....this is the best we got. Sorry Ev:)

Jer and his girls father's day 2011

Life

Life is good. I of course love my children so much no matter what, but lately I am overwhelmed by the love that I have for these little gals. Julianna is at such a fun age and understands so much. We are able to go have a Starbucks together (I know it seems a little young to get her started), we paint our nails, we cook together, we dance together, and we laugh so much together. She is my best little bud and I enjoy her so much. Everly is seriously the SWEETEST baby you could ever get your hands on. She just hangs out most of the time with big smiles. I often times will turn on our video monitor just to see her sleep. I just can't get enough!

How did I get so blessed???

Mother's Day Morning

Julianna 3 and a half

Everly 3 and a half months

Girls

People always told me when I was pregnant with Julianna that girls are so much fun. I always figured that it would be fun to have girls, but nothing prepared me for the reality. Julianna is hilarious! (she likes to say that things are "hilarious" all the time). I stopped the other day and just watched her as she was doing something silly and thought to myself, I love having a little girl who loves puddles, dirt, and toy cars, as much as she loves wearing a "fancy" dress (as she puts it) everyday, nail polish, lipgloss, and being a little drama queen. I am not kidding when I say that she can make herself cry on the spot. She is so nurturing and loving, and always tells me that she loves me and I am so grateful for the relationship that we have already. When I found out that we were having Everly, I was so excited to have more of the dirt, dresses, and drama that we already have in our household and looked forward to the relationship that Julianna and Everly would have some day. I didn't think that there would be much in the way of relationship so early on but Julianna LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Everly. She wants to wake her up every morning, help me put her down for naps, and kiss and hug her every night before bed. She often will hold her hand while watching a show or sitting on my bed and talks to her all of the time. And it is not completely one sided. Everly's face lights up when she sees Julianna. She smiles at her, and follows her with her eyes. I cannot wait to see their relationship unfold as they get older and pray that they will be the best of friends as they grow up...with maybe a few years of bickering in between:) Boy am I blessed!

The Girls

Holding hands while Julianna watches her morning show

This is how Julianna really feels about Everly

My Valentines

If you know me, you know that I LOVE Valentine's day. I love everything about it. The cheesy cards, flowers, candy, dinner, dessert. The excuse to decorate the dinner table with hearts and candles. I love it even more now that I have my two girls. Jeremy and I were able to go out to dinner this year because a lovely friend offered to babysit which was such a treat seeing as how I thought it would be quite awhile to be able to go on a date WITHOUT kids now that we have two. Growing up, my mom always made Valentine's day a special occasion for our whole family. She would block off the dining room so we couldn't see it until dinner time and would decorate the table with candy, candles, hearts, special plates and napkins, and usually a little gift at each of our plates. She would make a special dinner which usually included crab legs and I would get soooo excited anticipating our Valentine's dinner all day. Because of all of this excitement of Valentine's day growing up I still get excited for this day that so many consider silly. Each year since we have had kids we have done a special dinner with the table decorated. The last couple of years we have done it with the rest of the family and kids as well. I look forward to continuing this tradition with our girls as they get older ( since usually no one wants to babysit on Valentine's day anyways:)). I am so thankful for my 3 Valentines!